News Archive
October 27, 2015
Bioengineers cut in half time needed to make high-tech flexible sensors
Bioengineers at UC San Diego have developed a method that cuts down by half the time needed to make high-tech flexible sensors for medical applications. The advance brings the sensors, which can be used to monitor vital signs and brain activity, one step closer to mass-market manufacturing. The new fabrication process will allow bioengineers to broaden the reach of their research to more clinical settings. It also makes it possible to manufacture the sensors with a process similar to the printing press, said Todd Coleman, the bioengineering professor at the Jacobs School leading the project. Full Story
October 15, 2015
Researchers identify a new culprit behind fibrosis
An international team of researchers has identified a new molecule involved in skin fibrosis, a life-threatening disease characterized by the inflammation and hardening of skin tissue. The new study is the first to investigate the role of this molecule in skin fibrosis and paves the way toward new and improved therapies for the disease. Full Story
October 14, 2015
Meet the Jacobs School's 17 new faculty
The Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego is building and strengthening its research abilities by hiring 17 new faculty this year. With these hires, the school is increasing its impact in clinical medicine, robotics, wireless technologies, genomics, data sciences and cybersecurity, clean energy, advanced manufacturing—and more. Full Story
October 13, 2015
2016 Siebel Scholars Announced
Five engineering graduate students from the University of California, San Diego from across the Departments of Bioengineering and NanoEngineering have been named 2016 Siebel Scholars. The Siebel Scholars program recognizes exceptional students at the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, and bioengineering and provides them with a financial award for their final year of studies. With the Class of 2016, the Siebel Scholars program has expanded to engage outstanding leaders in the field of energy science. Full Story
October 6, 2015
NIH Common Fund selects UC San Diego engineers as High-Risk, High-Reward Research Awardees
Two engineering professors from the University of California, San Diego have received $5.9 million in combined funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) High-Risk, High-Reward Research program supported by the NIH Common Fund. The two professors, Sheng Zhong in the Department of Bioengineering and Darren Lipomi in the Department of Nanoengineering, are among five professors from UC San Diego to receive an award from the program in 2015. Full Story
October 5, 2015
NIH Establishes 4D Nucleome Research Centers and Organizational Hub at UC San Diego
Under its new 4D Nucleome Program, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund has awarded three grants totaling more than $30 million over five years to multidisciplinary teams of researchers at University of California, San Diego. Full Story
October 1, 2015
Robots in the Operating Room
University of California, San Diego bioengineering alumnus Jonathan Sorger, Director of Medical Research at Intuitive Surgical in Sunnyvale, California, is one of the ten keynote speakers at the UC San Diego Contextual Robotics Forum on Oct. 30, 2015. Sorger will offer a vision of the future of medical robotics, including how technologies will continue to augment the surgical experience. Full Story
September 24, 2015
UC San Diego Engineers on Thomson Reuters list of Highly Cited Researchers
Three professors from the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering have earned a spot on the Thomson Reuters list of Highly Cited Researchers in 2015 for exceptional impact in their fields. The three professors, Yuri Bazilevs, Bernhard Palsson and Joseph Wang are among 22 professors and researchers from UC San Diego named to the prestigious Highly Cited Researchers list. Full Story
September 16, 2015
Hearts build new muscle with this simple protein patch
An international team of researchers has identified a protein that helps heart muscle cells regenerate after a heart attack. Researchers also showed that a patch loaded with the protein and placed inside the heart improved cardiac function and survival rates after a heart attack in mice and pigs. Animal hearts regained close to normal function within four to eight weeks after treatment with the protein patch. It might be possible to test the patch in human clinical trials as early as 2017. Full Story
August 26, 2015
Bone-fracture puzzles introduce undergraduates to real-world engineering
In a new project-based class, first-year bioengineering students at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering produced 3D-printed models of fractured ankles from 2D images of real patients. Full Story
August 24, 2015
UC San Diego is No. 1 in Nation for Sixth Year, According to Washington Monthly
For the sixth consecutive year, the University of California, San Diego has been ranked the number one university in the nation by Washington Monthly for its contributions to the public good. The magazine released its 2015 College Guide today, an annual issue that takes a different approach to ranking the nation’s colleges and universities. Full Story
August 18, 2015
Bioinformatics Pioneers Launch First Online Bioinformatics Specialization on Coursera
Learners around the world will have the opportunity to enroll in a series of courses designed for biologists eager to gain computational skills and for computer scientists who want to explore the frontier of bioinformatics. UC San Diego will launch its six-course Specialization in Bioinformatics on Coursera, which culminates in a Capstone Project using software tools and big data provided by Illumina, a leading company in genome sequencing and the emerging field of personalized medicine. Full Story
August 10, 2015
Bioengineers identify the key genes and functions for sustaining microbial life
A new study led by bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego defines the core set of genes and functions that a bacterial cell needs to sustain life. The research, which answers the fundamental question of what minimum set of functions bacterial cells require to survive, could lead to new cell engineering approaches for E. coli and other microorganisms, the researchers said. Full Story
July 16, 2015
New resource makes gene editing technology even more user-friendly
Researchers at Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego, have developed a new user-friendly resource to accompany the powerful gene editing tool called CRISPR/Cas9, which has been widely adopted to make precise, targeted changes in DNA. This breakthrough has the potential to facilitate new discoveries in gene therapies and basic genetics research. The research was published in the July 13 issue of Nature Methods. Full Story
June 17, 2015
Vinculin protein boosts function in the aging heart
A team of researchers led by bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego provides new insights on how hearts “stay young” and keep functioning over a lifetime despite the fact that most organisms generate few new heart cells. Identifying key gene expression changes that promote heart function as organisms age could lead to new therapy targets that address age-related heart failure. Full Story
May 27, 2015
Programming probiotics for early detection of liver cancer metastases
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have described a new method for detecting liver cancer metastases in mice. The approach uses over-the-counter probiotics genetically programmed to produce signals easily detectable in urine when liver cancer metastases are present. Full Story
May 14, 2015
Event empowers students to study STEM fields
As a ninth grader, Diana has dreamt of being many different things, but an engineer has never been one of them.“I guess it just isn’t something you think could really happen for a lot of people. Those kinds of jobs feel so far away,” she said.She was among 150 students who attended the Empower High School Conference on Saturday, April 25—an event that hopes to make STEM jobs a more realistic career goal for students.By the end of the event, she was enthusiastic: “My favorite part of the day was touring the labs. Seeing all the resources here is definitely inspiring. It makes you feel like you could something really cool,” said Diana. Full Story
May 12, 2015
UC San Diego bioengineering student and Jacobs Scholar receives Goldwater Scholarship
Zou was awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship this year, created in 1986 in honor of Senator Barry Goldwater to provide highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers who intend to pursue research with scholarship money. Full Story
April 24, 2015
Jacobs School of Engineering Students Receive 2015 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Graduate Research Fellowships to eight students from the Jacobs School of Engineering. This year, the NSF received approximately 16,500 applications and made 2,000 fellowship award offers. The fellowships provide three years of financial support – including an annual stipend and a cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution – during a five-year period to individuals pursuing research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Full Story
April 20, 2015
Breast Tumor Stiffness and Metastasis Risk Linked by Molecule's Movement
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center have discovered a molecular mechanism that connects breast tissue stiffness to tumor metastasis and poor prognosis. The study, published April 20 inNature Cell Biology, may inspire new approaches to predicting patient outcomes and halting tumor metastasis.“We’re finding that cancer cell behavior isn’t driven by just biochemical signals, but also biomechanical signals from the tumor’s physical environment,” said senior author Jing Yang, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and pediatrics. Full Story